What have we been up to these past few weeks?

Since our last meeting members have been out and about in the community. We were back at the Food Bank again building hampers.

Interact

Our Vimy Ridge “Raiders” Interact Club have also been busy. They hosted a seniors tea at the South East Edmonton Seniors Association – I love the cake.

They also helped with one of their fundraisers the “Golden Girls Fashion Show” Well done them!

On Tuesday evening a group of us attended the Grandview Concert Series to enjoy a lovely evening of jazz. The Joel Gray Trio entertained us for an hour. There was a lot of clapping and toe tapping. Thank you to Jerome and Ross for arranging the concerts.

Edmonton West News

Last weekend I had the privilege of being the Reviewing Officer for the 395 Squadron Annual Ceremony and Parade.

When I was asked to do it, Maj Pilkington didn’t really say anything about the role. But the more I looked into it, thanks to Google, I realized what an important and prestigious role. I inspected the cadets, just like the Queen. Presented some awards and then made a speech. I was very impressed with the cadets and loved the experience. I was given a plaque in recognition of the day.

At the banquet in the evening there were lots of awards given out to the cadets recognizing their achievements throughout the year. Of note Cheyenne Schiml received 3 awards. Cheyenne was the cadet that we sponsored to go to the Adventures in Citizenship in Ottawa. She will be doing a presentation for us in the fall.

Some of the cadets put together presentation boards and displays on different topics. Ken and I were to choose a winner and Air Cadet Hermenean’s display on Women in Aviation was excellent.

Aaron Miles was presented with 3 awards, one of them was the Captain Brian Holmes Aviation Proficiency Award. This also comes with $1000 to be put towards flight time.

Field Trip to STARS Air Ambulance

It all began when a pregnant woman from a rural community died from blood loss, leaving a father alone with their newborn. For STARS founder Dr. Powell, her death was one too many. Something had to be done.

Art Hironaka doesn’t remember all the details of the pitch Dr. Greg Powell and Dr. Rob Abernethy delivered in early 1985 around a lounge table in a Calgary hotel with a few Lions members. But he recalls one important memory: it was good. The best request for funding he’d heard in his time as treasurer of the Lions of Alberta Foundation.

Motivated to change emergency care across rural Alberta, Dr. Powell and his colleagues created a helicopter air ambulance service, which was built and supported by the community.

Today, STARS provides world-class services across Western Canada and continues to be fueled by grassroots community support. For many, STARS is their lifeline.

When life hangs in the balance, having the most reliable air ambulances available can mean the difference between life and death.

The current BK117 helicopters have long been a part of our fight for life since 1985, flying tens of thousands of life-saving missions, they are reaching the end of their lifespan and need to be replaced.

STARS moved to a newer, faster helicopter in 2012 which cost $16 million. The AW-139 can travel 278 kilometers an hour, more than 50 kilometers an hour faster than the BK-117, reaching trauma patients quicker. These helicopters are much bigger, and modifications on the landing pads had to be made at the Grey Nuns and Misericordia.

However, they are selling the AW-139’s and their new aircraft of choice to deliver the most advanced life-saving care is the Airbus H145, at a modest $13 million. A unified fleet of H145s will ensure standardization and consistency across all of our missions, making it the most cost-efficient helicopter option to operate. That’s in addition to being just as reliable as the BK117 and as technologically advanced as the AW139. It's the best of both worlds.

When the new STARS helicopters landed at the hangar they carried special passengers, including founder Dr. Greg Powell and the very first STARS patient, Kelly Waldron, who was a premature baby when she was airlifted from Lethbridge to hospital in Calgary. In recognition of that first flight, the helicopter bears the registration marks “C-GKLY,” intended as a nod to her first name. The other helicopter includes the letters LCI, in recognition of longtime support from Lions Club members.

Rotary Stories

Our speaker called in sick today so I asked a few members to step up to the microphone and tell us a story!!

Ingrid's message:

Ingrid's year, along with mine, is drawing to a close. It has been a wonderful year and she would like to invite you all to the District Changeover and Awards Event. It will be a fabulous evening of reflection, celebration and full of surprises, not to be missed. She would love to see a strong showing from our club. Please get your tickets from the District website.

Rob's Ride for Kids with Cancer:

Rob was part of a group of cyclists raising funds and awareness for the Society by completing a challenging long distance cycling adventure through northern Alberta. 100% of the funds raised directly support Northern Alberta families affected by childhood cancer.

This amazing 7-day cycling adventure kicks-off in Grande Prairie. From there they cycled east, staying overnight in Valleyview, High Prairie, Slave Lake, Swan Hills and Westlock and then home to Edmonton. Rob cycled 770 km through places he never knew existed like Wembley and Crooked Creek. There was a challenging 650 meter elevation gain as they approached Swan Hills, which is the highest point in Alberta outside the Rocky Mountains.

Altogether Rob raised $8,000 towards this cause, and the total amount raised this year was $185,000. In the past 17 years the Tour of Hope has raised over 4 million dollars. Fantastic!

Ken's Vocational Minute:

Growing up Ken wanted to be a Police Officer or a Garbage Man. He thought it would be cool to ride on the back of a big garbage truck:) He joined the Police Force in 1989 and has been in many different departments during the 25 years he was there. He patrolled downtown, was part of the breathalyzer testing unit and was a beat officer on Jasper Avenue by Beaver Hills Park. Ken has been an undercover officer and was once a garbage man....which proves that dreams do come true! While undercover, wearing a bug infested wig, he bought drugs from a dealer on Jasper Avenue. From there he joined the Tactical Swat Team which was high risk, high energy and hard on the body. He was in charge of a mock hostage situation on the Edmonton River Queen. The second half of his career was focused on Investigations including a drug unit detective, the sexual assault team and became a supervisor of the West End Police Department. Ken then studied for his Masters in International Relations and Political Science at Norwich University in Vermont. More exciting times were to come. After much research and determination Ken was part of a International UN Police Mission to Afghanistan. After 6 weeks of training in Ottawa he left for a years mission. Since his retirement from the EPS, Ken began Clarium Fraud & Compliance Solutions. He is uniquely qualified to provide expert fraud prevention, anti-money laundering compliance, litigation support, whistleblower programs, and training services to his clients. So with Ken at the helm next year........make sure you pay your dues...hahaha!

The Final Countdown.....

Next week will be the final meeting of the 2018-19 year. Please join us as we review our accomplishments and celebrate our successes. It is a time to thank the Board for all their hard work, introduce the new one and pass the gavel to Ken. See you there!